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The Rock was almost forced to break character at WrestleMania
The legendary WWE star has admitted he felt nervous and anxious during his in-ring return for the company earlier this year, before one key moment put him at ease.
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Johnson wrestled in what was his first serious match in more than a decade in April, teaming with Roman Reigns to face Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins in a classic tag bout.
Despite his legendary career, stellar list of accolades and a confidence that’s the envy of many, the star has confessed the outing had his emotions in knots.
The Hollywood megastar, who is back on filming duties for a role playing MMA great Mark Kerr in The Smashing Machine, stood in the centre of the ring in Philadelphia and, he says, felt every bit of the pressure on his shoulders, with no multiple takes or re-runs to fall back on.
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"I was very nervous about it,” the veteran told ESPN of WrestleMania Saturday. “The anxiety level was at a nice clip going in.
“Usually if you have anxiety, you have nerves with something big like that, that you poured your heart and soul into, that you have to go out and you have to perform and you get one shot, one take, that's it.
"If you have a pulse, you're going to have those nerves and you're going to have your anxiety.
“Even in the world of fictionalized professional wrestling, you still have 75,000 people out there and you still got to perform for 30 minutes, 45 minutes, sometimes an hour.
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“I got out there and it was the same thing.”
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There were moments the nerves got the better of Johnson, who admits being ‘scared’ resulted in one miscue before the bell rang.
During the introductions of the four combatants, each were due to step forward and pose in the middle of the ring as their names were announced, with Johnson staying rooted on the spot, claiming to be ‘in the zone’ at the time, leaving ring announcer Samantha Irvin looking expectantly in his direction.
Barely a soul watching would’ve picked up on that misstep and, likewise, few may have highlighted the moment it seems Johnson was finally able to relax.
"We connected with that big Cody Cutter off the ropes,” he added, referring to the complex move that sees Rhodes bounce backwards off ring ropes, relying on his opponent to catch him and take the impact of the diamond cutter move at the same time.
“[It] required insane f****** timing, which we had never done before,” he went on to reveal.
"… We were like: ‘all right, we have some confidence in our abilities here.’
“When he hit me with that and the way the crowd responded, I remember laying there and just being so f****** happy, but I don't want to laugh or smile."
Johnson went on to pin Rhodes to win the match, returning the next night to play a key role in the American Nightmare beating Reigns for the Undisputed Universal title.
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A huge star in the wrestling world during the famed Attitude Era in WWE in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Johnson switched grappling for acting and duly became one of Hollywood’s biggest names.
While initially distancing himself publicly from his previous employment, he made infrequent appearances over the years that followed, before jumping back in for the lengthy stretch in early 2024.
ROMAN REIGNS JUST SPEARED THE ROCK!!!!!#WrestleMania pic.twitter.com/YoOt0F6dvJ
— WWE (@WWE) April 7, 2024
The long-term storyline coincided with his appointment to the Board of TKO – the company comprising WWE and TKO following their merger.
His exploits over WrestleMania went down a storm with fans, with Johnson handsomely rewarded with a multi million-dollar share payout of his own.
It’s almost certain that his 2024 comeback will be permanent in so much as he’s now firmly keeping the door open for more wrestling antics.
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Adding of his hopes to play a major part in WrestleMania next year, the powerhouse added: "We're on the 1-yard line to create the biggest WrestleMania of all time and the biggest match of all time at WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas.
"I'll just leave it at that.”
